Carbon paper tear-off knife for autographic registers



Jan. 22, 1957 R. KATZ 2,778,659

CARBON PAPER TEAR-OFF KNIFE FOR AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTERS Filed Aug. 2, 1954 2' Sheets-Sheet 1 R. KATZ Jan. 22, 1957 CARBON PAPER TEAR-OFF KNIFE FOR AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2, 1954 I Wm I mmvroa.

ATTORNEXS.

United States Patent O CARBON PAPER TEAR-OFF KNIFE FOR AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTERS Russell Katz, Hamilton, Ohio, assignor to Paul Beuninghofen and F. B. Dieshach, Hamilton, Ohio, trustees Application August 2, 1954, Serial No. 447,126

1 Claim. (Cl. 282-19) This invention relates to autographic registers which are used for manifolding stationery. Such stationery consists of a plurality of superimposed strips of forms which are folded in zig-zag fashion to provide a packet of conveniently handled size. The folds are made at transverse lines of perforations which define sets of forms within the packet and which permit the sets of forms to be torn apart readily.

In a conventional operation, the packet of stationery is placed in the autographic register 'beneath the writing platen. The individual strips of forms are threaded through separator bars, which are at the infeed end of the writing platen, and from the separator bars they are advanced onto the writing platen by feeding mechanism located at the opposite end of the writing platen. On the writing platen strips of carbon paper are interleaved between the individual strips of forms. The carbon paper strips extend across the platen at 90 degrees to the direction in which the forms are advanced from a roll which is mounted at one side of the writing platen. Inasmuch, as the carbon paper which is on the writing platen must be renewed from time to time, provision is made to pull the strips of carbon paper from the roll by hand and to tear off those parts adjacent to the ends of the strips that have become worn through use. It is to thi particular phase of the operation of an autographic register which the present invention is directed.

Specifically, the invention concerns a novel, springloaded, carbon paper tear-off knife which is mounted within a recess at the side of the au-tographic register casing, where it is out of the way so as to not interfere with the usual operation of the register. Normally the knife is locked against the side of the writing platen to secure the loose ends of the carbon paper. Provision is made, however, to release the knife, at which time a novel spring device becomes effective to swing the knife out of the recess to release the carbon paper strips. At the same time the spring device pushes the ends of the carbon paper strips from the recess so that they may be grasped easily in order to pull the worn section thereof from the register. After the required amount of carbon paper has been pulled from the register, the spring-loaded tear-off knife then may be swung back into its recessed position where it serves to clamp the carbon strips and to hold them securely so that the used portions thereof may be torn off and discarded.

Specific objectives and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an autographic register incorporating a carbon paper tear-off knife embodying the principles of the present invention.

'Figure 2 is a top plan view of the autographic register shown in Figure 1 in which certain of the parts have been broken away to show details of construction.

Figure 3 is an enlarged top plan view showing the carbon tear-cit knife in latched position and showing a 2,778,659 Patented Jan. 22, 1957 2 portion of the autographic register which is adjacent to the knife.

Figure 4 is a side eleva-tional view illustrating the details of construction of the latch which is employed to hold the carbon tear-off knife in closed position.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken transversely through the side of the autographic register of Figures 1 and 2, showing the carbon tear-off knife in open position.

The autographic register which is used to illustrate the present invention is also disclosed in copending patent application-s Serial Nos. 404,547, 404,561, and 404,- 707, all filed January 18, 1954. In the drawings, the autographic register is indicated generally by the numeral 10. The casing for the register includes a top or lid 11 and a bottom portion 12. The bottom portion of the register 12 may be of any conventional construction. However, it is preferred that the top portion there-of be cast as a single unit for the sake of neatness and appearance. A carbon cut-0E knife which is indicated generally by the numeral 13 is disposed within a recess 14 which is formed at the left side of the register, being defined by an opening formed in the side of the cast top or lid 11.

In general, a roll of carbon paper, which is not shown here, is disposed at the right hand side of the autographic register casing under lid 11 and at a level slightly below the writing platen of the register which is designated 15 in the drawings. The carbon paper and the means which are used to support it Within the register may follow conventional practices. These and other details of construction of the register are illustrated in the copend-ing applications referred to above. It is believed that such details are not necessary to a complete understanding of the present invention in view of the fact that it is concerned solely with the port-ion of the register surrounding the carbon tear-elf knife, the knife itself, a latch 16 which is provided to lock the carbon paper tear-off knife in closed position, and a leaf spring device 17 which serves the double function of providing the necessary force to kick the carbon paper tear-off knife into open position, once it has been unlatched, and to push out the loose ends of the carbon paper strips from the recess 14 at the side of the autographic register into a position where they may be readily grasped.

More specifically, the carbon paper tear-off knife 13 is formed from a single strip of metal which is sufficiently stiff and rigidly mounted to perform its intended functions. One end of the strip of metal from which the knife is formed i configurated to provide a simple hinge 18. The hinge end of the knife is rotatably journalled upon a pin 19 which, in the instance shown, is mounted in a bracket 20 formed as a continuation of one of the side walls of the carriage of the autographic register adjacent to the platen 15. The opposite end of the carbon tearoif knife 13 is bent inwardly as at 21 at an angle approximating 45 degrees and then straightened to provide a lip 22. The carbon tear-off knife i of such length between the turned over end 21 and the hinge end 18 to extend the full length of the writing platen at one side thereof.

Knife 13 is held in the closed position shown in Figure 3 by means of latch 16 which comprises a slidable bolt. The bolt is configurated to provide a catch 23 at one end thereof which is designed to engage over lip 22. The opposite end of the bolt has a finger 24 thereon which extends at right angles away from the side of the register. The slidable latch bolt is secured to the side of the housing by means of a simple keeper plate 26. The inner face of the keeper plate 26 has a rectangular block 27 formed thereon. The latter block rides in a rectangular, elongated slot 28 which is cut through the slidable bolt of the latch. A pair of screw 29 which traverse the plate 26 and the block 27 thread into the side of the autographic register and serve to hold the latch in place. The latch is urged toward the left as viewed in Figure 4 by means of a coil spring 30 which resides within the slot 28. The finger tab 24 serves to prevent the latch from moving to the left beyond the point where lip 22 of the carbon tear-off knife is engaged.

The carbon tear-off knife when it is in closed position rests against a skirt 31 which depends from the side of platen 15. As is shown in Figure 1 the central portion of apron 31 is cut out to provide an opening 32. The leaf spring 17 is secured to the back side of apron 31 by rivets such as those provided at 33. The end of the leaf spring opposite to the rive-ts 33 is bent into a U-shape 34. When the carbon tear-off knife 13 is in the unlatched position shown in Figure 1, the U'shape end of leaf spring 17 extends through the opening 32 in the side of apron 31 and out of the recess in which the tear-01f knife is located, see Figure 5. The opening 32 is directly behind the tear-off knife 13 so that upon the release of latch 16 the springiness of the leaf 17 pushes the blade into the position shown in Figure 1. More importantly, however, the leaf spring also functions to push out the loose ends of the carbon paper strips, as shown in Figure 5, into a position where they may be grasped easily to pull the carbon strips across the platen to renew the transfer surfaces of the carbon paper which is interleaved between the manifolding stationery.

Thus, in order to operate the knife of the present invention the finger tab 16 of the slidable bolt is pulled to release the lip 22 on the tear-off knife. The leaf spring is thereby freed to push the blade away from the side of the register and to lift the loose ends of the carbon paper into a position where they may be grasped. The carbon paper then may be pulled acros the writing platen until fresh surfaces are interleaved between the manifold strips. At this time the carbon tear-01f knife may be returned to the closed position and the used end of the carbon paper torn 01f on the lower edge of the knife. With the knife blade in closed position there are no loose ends of carbon paper protruding from the side of the register 4 and all elements of the tear-01f knife and its latch are within the recess in the top of the register where they cannot interfere with the normal operation of the register.

Having described my invention, I claim:

In an autographic register having a writing platen over which strips of manifolding stationery are advanced by mechanical means in one direction and over which sheets of carbon paper are adapted to be pulled manually in a direction at 90 degrees to the direction of the advancing movement of the strips of manifolding stationery, said sheets of carbon paper being interleaved between the strips of manifolding stationery, carbon paper tear-off means comprising an apron depending from the side of the writing platen toward which the carbon paper is adapted to be pulled, a carbon paper tear-oif knife adapted to swing horizontally between a closed position in which it clamps the free ends of said carbon paper sheets against said apron and an open position in which it is swung outwardly away from the side of said apron, releasable latch means to hold said carbon paper tear-off knife in said closed position, an aperture in said apron in the area thereof which is adjacent to the mid-portion of said carbon tear-off knife when said knife is in its closed end latched position, and a leaf spring mounted behind said apron, said leaf spring having an elongated free end portion disposed to spring outwardly through the aperture in the apron to swing said carbon paper tear-off knife toward its open position when the latch is released and at the same time push outwardly the free ends of the carbon paper sheets into a position where they may be readily grasped.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 923,990 McGeown June 8, 1909 1,755,354 Jackson Apr. 22, 1930 1,999,535 Brenn Apr. 30, 1935 2,200,638 Pfeiffer May 14, 1940 

